I always want someone to look at me the way I look at a travel brochure. Is that too much to ask?But before that happens, Shi is travelling for travels sake. Well, there are two things I am certain about in my life: I love coffee and my taste in music is awesome and since it’s always coffee o’clock for me, why not partake a first-hand coffee experience, right from the farm to my cup? This was definitely going to be epic.
We board a matatu from town to Fairview estate, today’s tours destination, which is located in Kiambu County 15km from Nairobi city. Fairview estate is home to the world’s finest coffee and it is a beautiful coffee farm with nearly 100 acres under coffee. The farm is fed by Riara River and set on rich volcanic soil which is a plus for production of high quality coffee.
“Sure, I will work without coffee”…Said no one ever😅.
The estate offers Coffee Tours and recreational activities which include weddings, photo shoots, and picnics. The morning coffee tour begins at 1000hrs. You can then proceed for a 1 hour hike and get to see nature at its best. As you come to the end of the hike you get to the magnificent garden used to hold weddings, photo shoots and parties for instance engagement parties.
Life is pretty amazing when you get to stop and look at it.
On earth there is no heaven but there are pieces of it ~ Jules Reynard.
The most exciting activity is coffee picking. Guests are allowed to pick coffee with guided practice and under supervision. We were lucky to partake in this activity. It was at its best since we were competing in teams. The winning team would be rewarded of course. It was a fun experience.
There are two main types of coffee species: the Arabica and Robusta coffee. Most farmers prefer Arabica coffee. We got to learn its different breeds, its farming requirements and the different coffee diseases.
Flowers are like friends; They bring color to your world.
After picking coffee we embarked on a tour in the farm. While at it we had a quick stop at the dairy farm. The cows were well taken care of. We were lucky to be there in time for the milking process. I have never seen cows with such big udders. We learnt that the calves cannot be allowed to suck their mothers after birth because the milk is quite in plenty and the calf might die due to overfeeding. This forces the calf to be separated from the mother. A sad affair but who said survival is fun.
With a moo moo here and a moo moo there🎶
We then went to the coffee factory where the action takes place. We first of all sorted the coffee berries we had picked. Some were not wine red as advised and we had to hand pick them. It’s at this point we got to know who the winner was. Group 2 it was. “Si walikuwa wanajiskia” you guessed that right. I wasn’t in that group. But we came in second, or did we?
In the factory, the coffee berries we had picked were first of all washed, the outer skin peeled off, sorted into various grades, dried and stored ready for roasting and packaging.
What I can’t seem to get off my mind is instant coffee. This is low quality coffee that we or rather I take like on a daily since it’s the one that is processed sold locally. I really felt cheated.
Note the difference between the two, Yes, you can guess the one used to process instant coffee.
The tour wouldn’t be complete with us not having to taste the various coffee brands. The coffee Barista took us through the process and what can I say, it was my long awaited part of the tour ~ coffee tasting. We were practically taught how to tell the difference between light roast coffee, medium roast coffee, dark roast coffee and charred coffee by using a spoon, a cup and our sense of smell and taste. We found out from a series of smelling and tasting activities that the aroma and taste was unique to each type of roast. The dark roast from the AA brand of coffee had the most appealing smell and taste while the charred coffee, let’s just say nobody liked it from the smell so there was no need for tasting but I ain’t risking bad coffee, I had to slurp that.
This heart of mine was meant to travel the world.
Coffee slurping. #hot coffee is hot
I love you too coffee.
Take memories, leave foot prints.
Like everyone else who makes the mistake of getting older, I begin each day with coffee. But let’s not forget that high doses of caffeine may have unpleasant and even dangerous side effects. On the other hand light-to-moderate caffeine intake seems to provide impressive health benefits in many people. I am many people. What can I say, take coffee responsibly I guess😂😂?
📸Eliud Ndungu
@s.h.i_s.h.i
